Parker Family Update

Since Hannah's decided to be a sleepy head today and I'm waiting for her to wake up so I can vacuum (I've already got the furniture moved out of the way and her lunch waiting in the fridge!), I figured I might as well use this time to give an update. I often write updates centered around our precious little girl, but I thought it was about time to update you on the whole family, as there has been some major changes in our life lately.

First, we'll start with the biggest change, which was James' change in employment. His last day with Chase was Saturday and he jumped right in at Bank of America Home Loans on Sunday (yes, he worked Sunday, because it was the only day someone would have the time to show him a few things). Actually, he had been going over to Bank of America on his days off from Chase for the last couple of weeks, so he's been working hard on this new job (and hasn't really had a day off in a few weeks, so we're excited about this weekend!). His official start date was the 16th, but because he lacks the mortgage experience that was needed for the job, he has a lot to learn and is getting a crash course in the loan process. He has been learning quickly (there's so much to learn!!), and I'm so proud of how hard he's working so he can provide for our family! :)

Our decision for James to switch jobs was not an easy one. Things were starting to come together for him at Chase and he was really doing well there. So when this mortgage opportunity came up, we had a lot of praying, seeking counsel, looking at finances, etc. to do. James has wanted to get into the mortgage industry for a while now, so we knew we had to look into it. Since it is a sales position, it is purely commission-based pay - there's no base salary. With the economy and housing markets the way they are, we had a lot to take into consideration, since at Chase, we at least had a consistent and guaranteed income. I am so thankful for James, who doesn't just jump into opportunities, but takes the time to think through them, pray, and seek counsel from other sources. After talking with our Realtor, a family friend who's been in the financial world for a long time, the loan officer at Chase, and some others, we decided we would trust the Lord and go for it! I had prayed that if this was not what God would have for us, that the door would be shut, but God left it wide open for us! Since we will no longer have a guaranteed income (or even know what our income will be, for that matter), we recently sat down to evaluate our budget and shave off as much as we could, which is hard, when there's not much wiggle room to begin with! We're just trusting the Lord that he'll provide an income adequate to support our family, as we know that everything comes from Him!

On another note, I have been trying to lose all of these pesky pounds that I have gained since we got married and since Hannah's been born, so I've been running. Running on a treadmill that is placed in the corner of the room, facing the corner of the room gets really boring really fast. So, I decided I needed to change things up a bit and started a new running program called "Couch to 5K." It's a program designed to get you running 3 miles in 2 months. I figured that since I've been running already, the first couple of weeks would be easy-peasy! Oh boy! So far, it's still been a good workout! I don't think I'll ever run an official 5K (or at least not in the near future), but it's still much better running with an actual plan and goal in mind. We'll see how it goes. :)


James wanted me to share this photo with you all. We took a trip to Albertsons because I had some coupons I wanted to use, and while I knew it was a great deal, I didn't realize how great of a deal it was until we checked out. All of this cost us -- get this -- 95 cents! When it rang up at 95 cents, I looked at James and said I didn't think it should be that low, so we asked the cashier, who brought the manager over. They looked over the coupons (I had store coupons plus manufacturer's coupons) and receipt and couldn't figure out what was wrong, so they just sent us home! Wow! Glad we decided to stop by!

So, that's what we're up to. We miss you all and can't wait until the family vacation next summer!!! :) We're so EXCITED!